Line #11 Recap/DoctorWhoMissingAdventures20TheEnglishWayOfDeath


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doctor_who_english_way_of_death.jpg]]
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3	[[Creator/TomBaker The Fourth Doctor]], Romana II and K-9 land in UsefulNotes/{{London}}, post UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, so that the Doctor can return some library books. All is well, K-9 ensures that this location and time period has historically got no alien invasions or other spooky-going-ons to delay the Doctor, so naturally, guess what happens? Zombies begin invading England, while their leader, an evil cloud, plans to destroy the Earth to abuse his evil power of turning dead people into zombies.
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5	It was released in 1996 by author (and future episode writer) Gareth Roberts, and with his blessing, was adapted into a full-cast AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho audio drama starring Creator/TomBaker, Creator/LallaWard & Creator/JohnLeeson in 2015. It can be purchased [[http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-english-way-of-death-standard-edition-1003 here]]. The book was re-released in 2015, less than two months after the audio was released.
6	----
7	!!The novel contains examples of:
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9	* AnachronismStew: The Circle, a group of time travellers using the period as a retirement home, bring some equipment with them from the future, but ensure that the people of the time don't get their hands on it. There's also a portal in a seaside resort, and as per most historical settings featuring this TARDIS crew lineup, K-9.
10	* AndIMustScream: Zodaal's radmium form has a very long shelf-life, meaning that if he were to stay trapped in a confined area, well, he'd have quite a long time before he'd die. Julia inflicts this fate on him to prevent him from picking up where he left off, albeit at the cost of her own life.
11	* BigDamnHeroes:
12	** Romana, K-9 and "Good" Zodaal pull one to rescue the Doctor from Zodaal and reunite the "nice" part of him with the "evil" part. The result only turned him AffablyEvil.
13	---> '''The Doctor:''' You know Romana, when you turned up just then, I got an idea of how others feel when I appear and rescue everyone. Shame you didn't. [[EpicFail But to get something that badly wrong]], it takes talent! [[SarcasmMode Well done!]]
14	** The other time travellers pull a somewhat successful one once Romana fails in her attempt.
15	* BigWhat:
16	** Romana, after being told by K9 that the TARDIS is running optimally... ''[[TheAllegedCar at 39% efficiency]]''.
17	** The Doctor, when Romana's BigDamnHeroes moment GoesHorriblyWrong.
18	* ButForMeItWasTuesday: [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] by Zodaal, who ''deliberately plans to schedule his next genocide on a Tuesday''. Immediately [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by the Doctor.
19	--> '''Zodaal:''' I'm going to destroy the world next Tuesday!\
20	'''Fourth Doctor:''' How vulgar! Nobody does anything of importance on a Tuesday!
21	* ContinuityNod: Mrs Chater assumes The Doctor is an artist due to his bohemian clothing style. Her next logical conclusion is that [[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath he spends his time in Paris, having misadventures with paintings]].
22	* TheDogWasTheMastermind: Most of the period-specific characters express surprise that the CEO of a biscuit company was behind the plot to destroy the Earth.
23	* GenteelInterbellumSetting: And characters of the period try not to despair when up to their eyeballs in zombies, zany gadgets and killer clouds.
24	* GoodOldFisticuffs: The Colonel challenges some zombies to a ''boxing match'' to defend one of the female time travellers.
25	* GrandTheftMe: Zodaal's ability is to turn other humans into outlets for himself/ zombie-like creatures. He attempts to do this to the Colonel, but K9 saves him as he has the ability to store multiple visiting consciousnesses on his hard drive.
26	* HeelFaceTurn: Julia effectively does one over the course of the story, defecting from Stackhouse's/Zodaal's side as she learns his plan. It's [[ZigZaggedTrope zig-zagged a little though]], since despite assisting the Doctor and his friends to escape from Zodaal's prison she never joins his side either. Her actions are ultimately so that she still has a planet to live on, much less potentially hold for ransom.
27	* HeroicSacrifice: Julia, strapped in Zodaal's spaceship and surgically altered to allow him to siphon himself into her completely, shoots herself with her gun to prevent him from having a body to control deep in space. That said, with wires running directly to her brain, it's hard to think of how she could safely have gotten out of the scenario if Zodaal had been beaten another way.
28	* HitmanWithAHeart: Julia's far more reasonable than any assassin has any right to be. Though she starts off as a lackey of [[ArcVillain Stackhouse]], and very much shoots to kill at the chance, she never holds the VillainBall or gives into ArbitraryScepticism despite the strange things she sees and is told. She's downright an AntiHero by the second half, working to stop Zodaal's plan to blow up the world without being told to or offered anything in turn (albeit with the potential prize of the seismic stimulator to work for).
29	* HopeSpot: When Zodaal is reunited with his "rational" part he had jettisoned prior to the story, everyone is pleased that now he is reasonable enough to stop destroying the world. Then he assures them he knows how to accelerate the process to destroy the world with new information "Rational" Zodaal gathered while separated. The Doctor doesn't take it well.
30	--> '''Miss Chater:''' Pardon me, but did or didn't that plan work?\
31	'''Zodaal:''' Didn't. I'm still going to kill everyone.
32	* ImmuneToBullets: Zombie!Woodrow is pointed out to be this, with the usual [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] from The Doctor.
33	* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: The Doctor notes that when Julia shot him, it hit nearby jam instead, and that Julia also shot at Woodrow, who is ImmuneToBullets.
34	--> '''The Doctor:''' Have you ever managed to kill ''anyone'' when you shoot them?
35	* IncomingHam: Upon opening the door to one of Zodaal's warehouses...
36	--> '''The Doctor:''' HELLO, ZOMBIES!\
37	''[Percy faints]''
38	* InsistentTerminology: Zodaal insists his earthquake machine is a ''sonic stimulator'', not as The Doctor calls it a ''seismic wave generator''.
39	* InTheStyleOf: The whole book plays out like it was a novelization of a TV story set between seasons 17 & 18. It's even in 4 parts, complete with end-of-episode cliffhangers, instead of a normal layout of a bunch of chapters. Unsurprisingly, the audio adaptation stayed within this format for its release.
40	* JumpedAtTheCall:
41	** The Colonel is more than happy to assist Romana, even when he's aware of the danger that would ensue. Felicia herself is very eager to jump into the fray after Percy, and defers to the Doctor's expertise despite his personality.
42	** Though she's not happy about it, Julia's first instinct at learning every new aspect of Zodaal's plan is to find a way to stop it, and she makes great use of what she has. Of course, the idea of holding the world for ransom with the machine he has ''does'' cross her mind, but she settles for trying to sabotage the machine instead when things progress too far.
43	** Miss Chater, author of several mystery novels, also jumps at the chance of an adventure of her own.
44	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: The Doctor [[LampshadeHanging makes fun of]] many tropes he's previously experienced during this story.
45	* LighterAndSofter: WordOfGod stated in 2015 that despite most of the Missing Adventure authors attempting to write stories for an adult/ young adult audience (many stories feature topics of drugs, death, and sex), he wanted to do something more of the 4th Doctor period, because it's the kind of story ''he'' would want to watch (or read). When compared to other darker stories in the same series like ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresDamagedGoods Damaged Goods]]'', the characters in this story are nicer, there's a bigger focus on comedy and the zombies themselves are OutOfFocus.
46	* MrExposition: "Rational Zodaal"
47	* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted, several characters happily call the lumbering, drooling, brain hungry figures zombies.
48	* OmnicidalManiac: Zodaal, like classic 4th Doctor villains before him. Unlike those other villains, part of the story revolves around putting the hidden "Fun and Rational" part of Zodaal with the "Jerkass and Omnicidal" part to avert this trope. It doesn't work.
49	* OurZombiesAreDifferent: They're possessed by an evil green cloud and need brains to maintain the cloud's stability.
50	* RetiredBadass: The Colonel, who still longs for adventures, jumps at the opportunity of helping Romana reach a seaside town, and then defending her from zombies.
51	* RightForTheWrongReasons: Mrs Chater assumes The Doctor is an artist due to his bohemian clothing style. Her next logical conclusion is that [[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath he spends his time in Paris, having misadventures with paintings]].
52	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: During an meeting between Woodrow, Julia, Miss Chater, The Doctor and Percy, Julia gives up trying to reason with Woodrow, grabs Percy's flying box, then ''flies out of the window''.
53	* SkewedPriorities: Prof Porteous is pleased that the machine he theorised which got him laughed at by his peers is now being used successfully to destroy the world. Lampshaded by The Doctor (as usual).
54	-->'''Porteous:''' How they mocked, when now they'll see that my theories were sound!\
55	'''The Doctor:''' Oh yes, [[DeadpanSnarker they'll see]], and as their front gardens are swallowed up by molten lava, the first thing they'll say is "Oh, old Porteous was right!" Rather a PyrrhicVictory, wouldn't you say?
56	* StiffUpperLip: The period-specific characters don't seem particularly fazed when faced with K-9, zombies and weird machines. They end up being a bit more confused by it.
57	* UpperClassTwit:
58	** Percy seems to have settled into the period nicely.
59	** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with his time-travelling gang, who despite posing as upper-class citizens, are more than capable of pulling a BigDamnHeroes.
60	* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame:
61	-->'''Zodaal:''' ''[as soon as Romana arrives to rescue the Doctor]'' You! [[SpannerInTheWorks You're just as bad as the Doctor!]]\
62	'''Romana:''' I surely hope not!
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64	!!The audio contains examples of:
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66	* TheBusCameBack: Creator/LallaWard and Tom Baker finally appear together in a performed piece of Doctor Who, for the first time in ''34 years''!
67	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The Doctor and Romana's first scene where Romana freaks out that the TARDIS is running at 39% efficiency while the Doctor is quite pleased with the result serves as one, since it's their first scene together [[note]] although it was released at the same time as ''The Romance of Crime'' [[/note]] in performed Doctor Who for 34 years and introduces them to a relatively new audience on audio.
68	* OffTheShelfFX: The open time vortex entrance in the Episode 2 cliffhanger uses the same SFX as the Time Vortex in several episodes of the TV series, starting from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E3TheUnquietDead The Unquiet Dead]]".

Context Recap / DoctorWhoMissingAdventures20TheEnglishWayOfDeath